Tag: architecture

An Isle and an Inn

Published on 30 June 2025

Last full day of my trip, but I was not about to slow down! On this Monday’s schedule: a visit to the Isle of Bute, and my last run in Scotland for a while…

After breakfast at Social Bite—I really appreciate what they are doing for the less fortunate—I still had time for a coffee at Riverhill Coffee Bar, before catching my ScotRail train in Glasgow Central.

I had to get to get onto a ferry in Wemyss Bay, but its train station actually was an attraction in itself!

The CalMac ferry brought me from Wemyss Bay to Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute. It was quite windy on deck, so some people might have seen more of me than I intended! The risks of wearing a kilt…

The Bute Museum is a cute little museum, but you don’t need much more than half an hour to see everything. That meant I had to some time left to visit Bonnie Bling, a jewellery maker also serving coffee from the local Isle of Bute Coffee roasters.

After that Rothesay Castle finally reopened after its lunch break. Once again I was confronted with Norwegian king Hakon… In the courtyard they were even flying the Norwegian flag, alongside the Saltire and the Buteshire flag!

After escaping from the prison pit, I headed to the Bute Yard. It’s a magnificent space, but a bit empty on a Monday afternoon, and no food vendors. Luckily the bar of the Bute Brew Co. was open, so I enjoyed a couple of their beers.

After returning to the mainland, I skipped a train to have some fish & chips from Macari’s, a place that came highly recommended to me. No place to eat in inside, but luckily the seagulls left me in piece.

Back in Glasgow I had just enough time to get changed in the hotel, and take the beloved subway—finally, because they were on strike when I wanted to use it—to Inn Deep.

There I met up with the Glasgow H3—for the third time already—to run and drink with them alongside the river Kelvin and beyond.

Since I still had all my packing to do, after the last beer at Inn Deep, I then went straight back to the hotel.

Weaver’s Cottage

Weaver’s Cottage

Published on 28 June 2025

My Saturday in Glasgow was definitely a combination of new places during the day, and some old favourites in the evening…

As nice as a full Scottish breakfast may be, when presented with the option, I like to try something more exotic every once in a while. As it happened, nearby Thai restaurant Chaophraya only very recently started serving breakfast! I ordered the Khai Krata fried eggs with Thai sausages, and was happily surprised. At first I thought the sauces were just ketchup and brown sauce, but oh boy, was I wrong: the red sauce was some kind of chili sauce, the brown one a spicy soy sauce.

My next National Trust for Scotland destination was a bit out of town, so I had to take another Scotrail train to Milliken Park. From there it was a little bit of a walk to the Weaver’s Cottage. While they were originally linen weavers, they changed with market demands, and started weaving tartans as well, and many other things!

Back in Glasgow, I first had a stamp, a beer, and a smash burger in BrewDog Merchant City.

I then had some coffee at Off the Rails, and beer at Shilling Brewing Company. Their guest selection had definitely improved since the last time I was there!

It was about time I had some Indian food for dinner again, so hoping for a table, I went to the busy Chaakoo Bombay Café. In less than fifteen minutes they could seat me, so I could order and enjoy my Masahari, keema matar, mango chutney, and garlic naan.

The highlight of the evening was without a doubt my visit to the Koelschip Yard. Refreshed from the outside, but still the very welcoming neighbourhood vibe on the inside. Once you’re dragged into a conversation with the regulars, you’re in it for the night. And the beer list is still banging, of course!
Side note: In this bar where I drank Epochal beers for the first time, they haven’t got a clue what’s going on with them either!

On my way back to the hotel, I made a last stop at The Pot Still for a wee dram. Truly a night well spent!

Glasgow!

Glasgow!

Published on 27 June 2025

Time to change hotels for the last time this trip! This time, I’m even staying a bit longer. It’s Glasgow, after all, and I need time to revisit my old favourites, and some new places, of course!

Before leaving Edinburgh—my train would only be around noon—I enjoyed a breakfast at the apparently very popular Greenwoods café, and had the Carbonara Benedict.

A last coffee at Lowdown and I was ready to finish packing, check-out of my hotel, and head to the Edinburgh Waverley, from where another ScotRail train would take me to Glasgow Queen Street.

I dropped off bag at the hotel, and headed back out again for a coffee at Spitfire Roasters. A double espresso, because when you drink it at the source, you should get it as pure as possible! I dropped by at Mr Ben, but unfortunately I didn’t find a vintage sporran to my liking…

I hopped on a First Bus to get to the House for an Art Lover. So, while this house is indeed based on early 20th century drawings by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, it was only built in 1989! It was nice to see his designs finally come to life this way.

Then it was finally time to check in to my hotel and home for the next four nights: Premier Inn Glasgow City Centre Buchanan Galleries.

After relaxing and recharging for a bit, I walked to the Epochal Barrel-Fermented Ales brewery, somewhere in an industrial estate. All shutters were closed though, and there was no sign of life, even though the taproom was supposed to be open…

After hanging around for a bit—maybe they were just late?—I gave up and walked on to the Rail Yard Food Market. After finally finding it, I couldn’t believe my eyes how small it was: three vendors, one of which just served coffee! The other options were pizza or baked potatoes, so I went for the latter.

Sufficiently fed, I could then finally start drinking! First stop was the Grunting Growler. It’s actually a bottle shop, but with an excellent selection of beers on draught as well.

Considering the area, it isn’t hard to guess my next destination: BrewDog Glasgow! I found myself a spot at the bar, and enjoyed some lovely beers there. In case you were keeping score: I now drank 123 beers at that bar, the most of all foreign bars I’ve ever been!

Outlandish…

Outlandish…

Published on 26 June 2025

Another visit to Edinburgh without seeing the Royal Mile at all? Yep, because there’s so much more interesting things to see and do elsewhere, even outside of the city! Especially if you’re an Outlander fan…

Since my first destination would take a train to get there, I had my breakfast at the Mòr Bakery right outside the station.

My train was a Transpennine Express, a company I had never travelled with before, but the service was definitely excellent, even for the short fifteen minutes it took to get to East Linton.

After a short walk I arrived at Preston Mill, where I had booked a guided tour. As it turned out, I was the only one at that time, so the very friendly and knowledgeable Alistair gave me a private tour. I’ve learned that oats need to be dried before they can be milled, and that the drying happens o floor very similar to one used in the malting process!

Back in the city, my first stop was at Red Kite Cafe for my coffee and cake.

Next was Old Eastway Tap. I forgot why I added it to my itinerary, but apparently it’s owned by Cross Borders Brewing Co., so a lot of their beers were on draught. Let me also take a minute to appreciate the fact that so many places in Scotland have power and USB outlets here to charge your devices, even in buses and right at the bar!

For lunch—and a beer—I went to Leith Depot, where quite unexpectedly I found a croque madame on the menu. Their interpretation of it was quite good!

Another coffee at Ground Floor—which also had a radio studio—and I was off to the centre again!

Well, actually past the centre and into the west end, to visit BrewDog Lothian Road, since I’ve come to realise that collecting stamps in Beer Visa 3.0 actually has some real perks!

But I was also there to revisit The Hanging Bat. Last time I was there, I mentioned that it didn’t quite feel the same anymore. Now, the bar recently has been taken over by the Northern Monk brewery from Leeds, and it has had an immediate impact on their beer offering. In a good way.

To collect another stamp, a quick visit to BrewDog DogHouse, and then to the Salt Horse.

So, the plan for dinner was to go to Wings, my favourite chicken wings place in Edinburgh, or anywhere basically. I had my checklist ready to make sure I’d only try rubs and sauces I hadn’t tried before. But when I got there, the venue was empty, for hire, no longer serving any chicken… How a genius concept like that couldn’t survive, will forever remain a mystery to me, but in its stead, I went to Bubba Q, a barbecue place nearby.

To finish the night, I went to where it al began—my craft beer journey at least—BrewDog Edinburgh, the OG at the Cowgate.

Shetland Simmer Dim Hash

Shetland Simmer Dim Hash

Published on 22 June 2025

This weekend was all about the main event of my trip, the Shetland Simmer Dim Hash! A hostel full of hashers running and walking on both Shetland proper and Bressay, and getting a taste of local culture, food, and beer!

After a restful night and a nice breakfast in the Magnus’ Lounge on the Hrossey, all the hashers gathered in the lobby to debark together. In the arrivals hall we were greeted by some local hashers—although only one of them actually lived on the island—and fiddle music.

There was a coach already waiting to take us to the hostel to quickly drop off our baggage, and then on to the start of trail, a good hour’s drive away.

I’m sure a run around Lerwick would have have been lovely, but Saturday’s trail was just stunning! The weather was very un-Scottish as well, since it was incredibly sunny, albeit quite windy, and the bogs invariably soggy…

After trail we had the opportunity to visit the Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary, which was hosting a grey seal, and the caretakers passionately told us all about it. Others were crazy enough to take a dip in the cold sea…

We then had a sandwich lunch and circle at the nearby St Magnus Bay Hotel—also serving local beers—after which the coach took us back to Lerwick so we could get settled in our rooms. It had been a while since I had shared a room with ten other guys!

By sheer coincidence, just before we were about to leave for dinner, the Lerwick Midsummer Carnival parade passed right by our hostel. As so much on Shetland, it was very Viking themed!

Dinner and the rest of the evening program would take place at the nearby Lerwick Town Hall. The main hall was beautiful, with a wooden vaulted ceiling, and stained glass windows, many of them featuring Norwegian monarchs.

The dinner buffet was excellent—lamb pie made with local lamb—the beer aplenty—cask and keg from the local Lerwick Brewery—and the ceilidh—I even brought my dancing ghillies for it—a lot of fun for everyone!

Since it was overcast and rainy by then—we even had a thunderstorm that night—the ‘dim’ was a bit darker than it usually is… It still was a very short night, though!

Hangover Trail

As is customary at events like this, there was a hangover trail on Sunday morning—even though my hangover was less severe than on Saturday morning… Less customary was the trail length: even longer than the Saturday trail! Since I would need my trail shoes by Monday evening again, and I prefer them to be dry, I decided to do the walk.

For this trail we actually had to cross the water, as it was on Bressay. Considering the weather—mostly wet and misty—this had been a smart choice to not run today, as they most definitely would have gotten even wetter… As nice as the beach at the ‘swim stop’ looked, I couldn’t be tempted to go in the water! I did get to see a seal in its natural habitat, though!

After trail we had another marvellous lunch: I just couldn’t stay away from the buttered bannock with slices of lamb…And again: Lerwick Brewery beer on cask!

Then we had to run to catch the ferry to Lerwick again, where we had another drink together, before picking up our bags and the ride to the NorthLink ferry terminal.

Once on the Hjaltland, I enjoyed another dinner in the Magnus Lounge, before joining the other hashers in the front bar for the last couple of beers.